Motorola Star-Trash
Written: Jun 20 '01
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Pros: Small size, very light.
Cons: Terrible battery life, poor quality construction and reception.
The Bottom Line: Need good battery life, reception, quality? You'll not find it in the Motorola Star-Tac Digital.
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| help4u's Full Review: Motorola StarTAC ST7762 Cell Phone |
I used Motorola phones from 1993-1996. I've owned all types from the DPC 555 to the Motorola Elite, but that was because at that time there we very few alternative options. Motorola was generally the only phone which offered a flip and the vibrating ringer.
That was why I ended up purchasing the Motorola Star-Tac Digital. I had assumed it was just like my other phones, but better. I was wrong. This phone is, yes, very small and very light. The ugly green lighting on the phone is actually ok. You can use it in most locations and not have any problems. That is where the good qualities end.
The first problem you will find with this phone is that it is very poorly constructed. You will find this out very quickly; the phone will start either clicking or cracking when you open and close the flip the first dozen times. The hinge on this phone is extremely fragile. Mine had to be replaced after 5 months, my friend who bought the phone a few months before me had already experienced this but I had assumed it would be an isolated incident.
The antenna on this phone is flimsy, probably why the reception is so bad. Pull it out and use it -- you will find it bends like a straw, and gets loose often, forcing you to utilize your keys or whatever is handy nearby to try to screw it back inside the socket. I'm on my second antenna since the first one bent sideways when I sat down with it in my pocket.
Another (and most major complaint) is the battery life. Both the talk time and the standby time are abysmal. Motorola has a way of advertising talk/standby times which are 3 or 4 times the amounts that I or anyone I knew experienced. This is truly horrible because the batteries (Lithium Ion) are supposed to be better than Nickel Metal Hydrite, and so are much more expensive; however, I would always be jealous of my Nokia using friends who would be using their digital phone for days without recharging whereas I would have to recharge my dead battery after 30 minutes of talking. The standby time was 4-6 hours. I spoke to a Motorola dealer about this and he advised me that I either charged it too often, or that my battery was too old. I told him that neither was the case, he then ran out of solutions.
These phones had a monopoly on styling, size, and lightness before other alternatives came out. These days a consumer has several different options. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this phone.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 130
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Epinions.com ID:
help4u
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Location: Florida
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
I'm an MBA student who works at a Circuit City part time.
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